TiE Houston recently hosted an event that brought together influential leaders from technology, venture capital, and national security. AlphaX CEO Sammy Haroon moderated the event, which examined how artificial intelligence is reshaping industries through creative destruction — a concept introduced by economist Joseph Schumpeter to describe how innovation dismantles the old to make way for the new.
The discussion explored how disruptive AI is transforming business models, decision-making workflows, and sources of competitive advantage — and how organizations can separate genuine innovation from the surrounding noise. Sammy framed the conversation around practical adoption, highlighting the accelerating pace of change and the strategic choices enterprises must make to stay ahead.
The event featured Major General Tony Cucolo (Ret.), whose four decades of leadership — including commanding U.S. forces in Iraq and Afghanistan and serving as President of the U.S. Army War College — offered powerful lessons on navigating uncertainty and making high-stakes decisions in rapidly evolving environments.
Also featured was Yash Hemaraj, General Partner at BGV, who shared his investment approach focused on applied AI — targeting solutions that solve real-world problems in legacy industries. Rather than pursuing costly foundational models, Yash highlighted investments that deliver measurable outcomes, such as AI platforms automating healthcare workflows, leveraging satellite data for infrastructure optimization, and enhancing — rather than replacing — human expertise.
Through this dialogue, Sammy guided a forward-looking exploration of AI's evolving role in enterprise strategy, the future of work, and the design of human-centric systems. The event reflected AlphaX's leadership in advancing applied AI solutions for upstream oil and gas forecasting and asset decision-making — and its commitment to building collaborative ecosystems that accelerate transformation across sectors like energy, healthcare, and industrial operations.